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Duty or Pleasure? This was the legendary choice which faced Hercules and which pre-eminent philosopher A.C Grayling uses as the starting point of this masterful book.

He shows us how much more people can understand about themselves and their world by reflecting on today's moral challenges. Above all, he explores the idea that certain demands and certain pleasures are necessary, not just because of their intrinsic merits but because of what they do for each other.

The Good Life or the good life? With exceptional clarity and unrivalled prose, Grayling addresses the everyday ethical choices which confront us all.

persuasve and strangely consoling OBSERVER an important, thought-provoking, kind and life-enhancing book... general philosophy at its accessible best TIMES an admirably sensible book, soemtimes stirringly written -- Nicholas Lezard GUARDIAN An enriching and thought-provoking read, it will leave you wondering about what a good and happy life really is. GOOD BOOK GUIDE

A.C. Grayling is Master of the New College of the Humanities, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He believes that philosophy should take an active, useful role in society.

He is the author of many books, including The Meaning of Things and Towards the Light: The Story of the Struggles for Liberty in the Modern West, and has been a regular contributor to The Times, Financial Times, Observer, Independent on Sunday, Economist, Literary Review, New Statesman and Prospect. He has been a Booker Prize judge and is a frequent and popular contributor to radio and television programmes, including Newsnight, Today, In Our Time, Start the Week and CNN news.